© David Burton 2011

     In mid-1940, France had been invaded by Nazi Germany and was on the verge of defeat. At that moment, on June 10, 1940, Italy invaded a defenseless France from its undefended rear and declared war on both France and Britain. In a speech delivered at the University of Virginia on that same day, President Franklin Roosevelt, made the following remarks about the then-recent invasion of France by Italy:

     “The Government of Italy has now chosen to preserve what it terms its ‘freedom of action’ and to fulfill what it states are its promises to Germany. In so doing it has manifested disregard for the rights and security of other nations, disregard for the lives of the peoples of those nations which are directly threatened by this spread of the war; and has evidenced its unwillingness to find the means through pacific negotiations for the satisfaction of what it believes are its legitimate aspirations.

”On this tenth day of June, 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor.” (Ref. 1)

     Yesterday, May 19, 2011, President Barack Obama, just prior to his upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stabbed America’s only true ally in the mid-east in the back. Yesterday, President Obama announced his support of returning Israel and Palestine to the pre-war borders of 1967. This announcement was an unprecedented act and is yet another example of his policy of blaming Israel first. President Obama's course is a rapid and drastic departure from previous U.S. policy. Abandoning decades of peacemaking efforts, this plan is a return to the failed past and would heavily jeopardize Israeli security and stability in an already unstable Middle East. It is very clear that Barack Obama simply does not now support, and never has supported one of America's closest allies.

     If Israel were to return to its 1967 borders, Israel’s vulnerability to hostile neighbors, (every country around it), would increase significantly. The country would go from being about 45 miles across, to only 8 miles across. This would make the country nearly indefensible because even the most poorly made Hamas rockets could sail right into most targets in the country. Obama has once again made a foolish speech. It seems that our president finds it easier to attack the more westernized Israelis, than to confront the Palestinians on their never ending goal of destroying the State of Israel and making the Mid-east “Judenfrei” (free of Jews).

     Even the Palestinian terrorist organization, Hamas, immediately rejected Obama’s proposal because, in their charter, they state that Israel does not have the right to exist - period. They will settle for nothing less than a complete extermination of Israel. One man already tried that a half century ago and six million Jews ended up dead as a result. President Obama’s most recent statement on the Israeli-Palestinian issue would do nothing but lead toward the same result.

     President Obama needs to end the charade that peace can be negotiated with Arab and Islamic terrorists and he needs to stop pressuring Israel to negotiate with these murderers. These so-called peace negotiations will never bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians. That’s because only one side wants peace. The other wants pieces of Israel, chipping away at its borders until it can gobble up what remains of the country. The so-called Palestinians bring nothing to the peace talk table. They have yet to fulfill a major pledge made at any peace negotiations session. There is nothing that could possibly persuade any rational human being that the Palestinian side is serious about making war no more and living in peaceful coexistence with Israel. Certainly not their actions, not their Holocaust denials, not their textbook and media slander of Jews and not their repeated assertions that Israel must be destroyed. “It is Israel - and Israel alone - that receives pressure to make concessions. The only pressure on the Palestinian side is to show up at these road shows in order to be handed another pound of Israeli flesh. It isn’t a piece of land that the Palestinians want. It is all the land. They say so. Through six wars and numerous intifadas and other terrorist attacks, the Palestinian Charter, sermons, newspaper editorials and many other outlets, the message is clear: Israel . . . must be evicted by any means necessary.” (Ref. 2)

     President Barack Obama’s actions and statements have shown that he is no friend of Israel. What he has indicated instead is that he desperately wants to be a friend of all Arabs and Muslims. His first steps into the Middle East morass re-warmed the old formula that the ‘settlements’ are the greatest hindrance to peace and that, if they were removed or at least construction of them would completely be stopped, peace would prevail. BUT, Israeli settlements are not the problem! “The problem is, and has been for almost 100 years, the Arabs’ unwillingness to accept the legitimacy, the ‘right to exist,’ of Israel within any boundaries at all. They have a death wish for Israel. … Whatever Israel might be willing to do, whatever further ‘concessions’ it can be forced or willing to offer, it will not be enough.” (Ref. 3)

     At a G-20 summit, President Obama declared that there would be no more “dictating” to other countries. What is he now doing to Israel? First, he tells Israel that it must consider giving a part of its “undivided capital, Jerusalem” to the Palestinians, then he says that Israel must stop “new settlements”. Now, he tells Israel to return to its pre-1967 indefensible borders. To me, it appears that President Obama is indeed dictating to another country, Israel! At the same time, what is he publicly demanding of the Palestinians – Nothing?

     With respect to Obama’s condescending speech to the Arab/Muslim world in Cairo Egypt, it was justly said that Obama had embarked upon a campaign that could only “weaken Israel and force it to make suicidal concessions. … He has decided what will bring lasting peace in the region, and he will impose whatever he has to – despite the fact that the same solution has been tried in the very recent past and has failed miserably.
     "Once Again, Jews are expected to make concrete concessions, dismember their land and jeopardize their existence – in exchange for a repeat (sixth or seventh time …) of {unfulfilled} Arab promises not to use violence, not to incite violence, not to indoctrinate their children with the ideals of violence, etc. Same defective merchandise being sold, this time by a new and charming salesman. … Obama’s Cairo speech will assume it’s proper place with other dramatic Obama addresses – rhetorical , {and} symbols without substance” (Ref. 4). The same comments apply to yesterday’s Obama statement.

     President Obama and his Secretary of State have no problem prejudicing the outcome of the negotiations on the side of the terrorist groups they continue to fund; what they do have a problem with is Israel asserting its own rights. Under the Obama administration, Palestinian terrorist leaders in the West Bank and Gaza are never held accountable to any standard. Instead, Israel is constantly blamed for its intransigence.

     Obama may be eager to mediate between Israel and the terrorists, but before that happens, Obama needs to shed his naiveté and his anti-Israel bias and recognize the realities of the mid-East politics. Concessions are looked upon by the Arabs as signs of weakness and indications that more concessions can be obtained. What they do respect is firmness and intestinal fortitude. “ If the only use {Obama} has for Israel is as a tool for winning Muslim favor by extracting from it territorial concessions for terrorists - as the Obama administration seems bent on doing - then maybe it’s time for both nations to move on.” (Ref. 5)

     Where does Obama really stand with regard to Israel. Read my blog, titled Obama, Israel and the Arabs 2009 (Ref. 6), to see where I think he stands.

     Obama continues to deny that the real obstacles to peace in the Mideast are the Palestinian and Arab refusal to recognize the right of Israel to exist, their efforts to destroy Israel, and the not invalid belief that if they simply wait, Obama and his administration will force Israel into continually making territorial and political concessions that will ultimately result in the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement by a Palestinian entity. Israel has handed over the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians with disastrous results and with no equivalent response on the part of the Palestinians or their Arab/Muslim sponsors. The Palestinians and the other Arab countries in the region continue to blame the Israelis for the failure to achieve peace, while demanding still more concessions from the Jewish nation. “Land for Peace” has proved to be a joke. The Oslo agreement is a failure. Still, the U.S. continues to demand more from Israel and ignores the intransigence of the Palestinians.

     The timing of President Obama’s remarks are exquisite! As before, the remarks of the president and the other leaders of his administration come just before a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister – a really great way to start a meeting with a supposed friend! The hostility of President Obama toward Israel is palpable. Referring to the previous meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the U.S. president, it was said that “In a sign that the crisis between the United States and Israel has not ended, the meeting between Obama and Netanyahu was brief, and there was no press coverage or even written statements afterward.” (Ref. 7)

     That the Obama administration continues to pressure the Israeli government for more concessions while ignoring the real reasons for the lack of any progress in achieving peace are evident to any rationally intelligent person. This administration obviously believes that improving relations with the Arab/Muslim world is more important than maintaining the historical relationship with the State of Israel. Neither America nor the countries of Western Europe have been attacked by Israel or Jews. Can we say the same about the Muslim populations of the Palestinian and Arab world? Why then does the current U.S. administration jump to oblige the Palestinians and the Arabs whenever they make a demand? Consider:

• The Palestinians demand no more Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria – Of course, we’ll tell Israel to stop building.
• The Palestinians demand that part of Jerusalem become the capital of a Palestinian state – Yes sir, we’ll insist that the Jews give up part of their ancient capital.
• The Palestinians demand that there be no more building of apartments in a Jewish area of East Jerusalem – How insulting these Jews are. Of course we’ll tell them to stop immediately and we’ll publicly chastise them for having the gall to think that they can continue their 40 year old policy of building in their own capital.